A &#xA3;104M arts centre being built in Cardiff is on budget and due to be opened on time, it was announced yesterday.

The Wales Millennium Centre (WMC) is due to open in November 2004 in Cardiff Bay as expected, National Assembly Minister for Culture, Alun Pugh announced in the chamber.

The centre will provide a permanent home for leading arts organisations including the Welsh National Opera, as well as staging international cultural events.

The project is being financed by the Assembly, National Lottery and Arts Council of Wales.

Mr Pugh said the Board and officials were ensuring that "tough private sector fundraising targets" were met.

He also faced calls for the Centre to declare itself a smoke-free zone. Labour AM John Griffiths asked Mr Pugh, "Do you agree with me that it should be completely non smoking including the restaurant/cafe/bar area so that visiting children and everybody else are not exposed to the medically proven risks - cancer and heart disease risks - of environmental tobacco smoke, including employees who should not have to choose between their health and their job?"

Mr Pugh said some bar and cafe areas were currently planned with designated smoking sections.

He had written to the Centre's board and was awaiting a response.

Mr Pugh also faced calls to address the issue of transport to the Centre. But he said that transport questions were not part of his portfolio.